logo
Ontario expanding publicly funded private surgical and diagnostic centres

Ontario expanding publicly funded private surgical and diagnostic centres

Ontario is expanding its suite of publicly funded private community surgical and diagnostic centres.
Premier Doug Ford says the province is investing $155 million over the next two years to create 57 new centres for MRI and CT scans and gastrointestinal endoscopy services.
Ford says the new clinics will help ease the burden on hospitals and reduce wait times.
The province says it will add 35 new centres for MRI and CT scans that it says will serve more than 800,000 patients.
And it will add 22 centres to deliver endoscopy services.
Ford's Progressive Conservative government first introduced sweeping changes to the delivery of health care in 2023 in response to a massive surgical and diagnostic test backlog.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2025.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Quebec air ambulance company pays homage to four victims of helicopter crash
Quebec air ambulance company pays homage to four victims of helicopter crash

Winnipeg Free Press

time2 days ago

  • Winnipeg Free Press

Quebec air ambulance company pays homage to four victims of helicopter crash

MONTREAL – The company that operated an air ambulance that crashed on Quebec's North Shore on June 20 is honouring the four victims who perished. Airmedic says three of its crew members died as heroes, along with an American patient. Four crew members and the patient were aboard the Airmedic helicopter when it went down in a remote area north of Natashquan, about 1,000 kilometres northeast of Montreal. The company described the patient as a quiet woman, entirely devoted to her family. One crew member survived, the body of another person was found on Monday, and the other three victims' bodies were recovered by provincial police on Wednesday. The Quebec coroner's office says the victims are Sébastien De Lutio, 50, from Lac-Beauport; Olivier Blouin, 25, from Pont-Rouge; Sébastien Groulx, 50, from Longueuil; and patient Claire Tripp, 78, from the U.S. state of Maine. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. On its website, Airmedic says its employees were faithful to their mission until the very last moment, and saluted their dedication, courage, and humanity. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2025.

Ontario awards licences for publicly funded, privately operated diagnostic centres
Ontario awards licences for publicly funded, privately operated diagnostic centres

Global News

time2 days ago

  • Global News

Ontario awards licences for publicly funded, privately operated diagnostic centres

The Ford government has announced that 57 new privately operated surgical and diagnostic centres will be brought online and integrated into the public health system as it tries to reduce wait times. On Friday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled the first new privately operated facility to be given an operating licence — a new building in Richmond Hill, Ont., which will be run as a non-profit. As part of the creation of 57 new privately run facilities — referred to by the government as community surgical and diagnostic centres — Ontario will chip in a total $155 million over two years. 'The 57 new centres we are rolling out across Ontario will make a huge difference for people in the province, helping them get the care they need, when they need it,' Ford said in a statement. Story continues below advertisement 'It's all part of our plan to protect and improve our health-care services, all while ensuring people always receive the care they need with their OHIP card.' Get weekly health news Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday. Sign up for weekly health newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Thirty-five of the centres have been licensed to offer MRI and CT scans, while another 22 will deal with GI endoscopy procedures. Ontario NDP MPP France Gélinas said the announcement was a step in the wrong direction. 'That is public money going into private hands instead of our local hospitals, where help is desperately needed,' 'This model of private delivery with public dollars is alarming and unfair. Study after study shows that private clinics benefit the wealthiest, while leaving the rest of us behind. That is public money going into private hands instead of our local hospitals, where help is desperately needed. All of this has been made possible through Bill 60. 'This model of private delivery with public dollars is alarming and unfair. Study after study shows that private clinics benefit the wealthiest, while leaving the rest of us behind. Ford made Friday's announcement at the Schroeder Ambulatory Centre in Richmond Hill, which received the first such licence to operate a new centre. It will get $14 million from the province and provide MRIs, CT scans and endoscopy procedures to 115,000 patients over two years. Story continues below advertisement The Walter and Maria Schroeder Foundation committed $300 million for the new centre. Health Minister Sylvia Jones said no special favours were given to the new ambulatory centre, which was built without assurance it would be granted a licence if it applied. The new centres will help alleviate the strain on public hospitals, the provincial government said. The premier said that 'hospitals are at full capacity, but this will relieve them.' Announcing the licences marks a major checkpoint on a plan the government announced in 2023 to expand the role of privately delivered, publicly funded operators in the health-care system. The plan — titled Your Health — was announced at the beginning of 2023, with legislation to support it passed during the spring. In the year that has followed, the government has been working through details of how it will manage oversight of new private clinics. — with files from The Canadian Press

Ontario health agency reports major data breach to watchdog without notifying patients
Ontario health agency reports major data breach to watchdog without notifying patients

Global News

time2 days ago

  • Global News

Ontario health agency reports major data breach to watchdog without notifying patients

Government and privacy officials are investigating a potential data breach involving the health data of hundreds of thousands of patients who have not yet been notified about an incident in the spring. On Friday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Health Minister Sylvia Jones and the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) all appeared to confirm that the data of patients using the Ontario Health atHome service may have been breached. In a letter to Ontario Liberal MPP Adil Shamji, who first flagged the potential cyber attack, the IPC suggested he was correct when he said the incident occurred more than three months ago in March. The IPC commissioner confirmed to Shamji that a report had been filed 'that aligns with the circumstances and date described in your letter.' Shamji had said the breach happened on or around March 17 and involved 200,000 patients. Story continues below advertisement A spokesperson for the IPC told Global News the watchdog had received reports of a breach from Ontario Health atHome — which did not report it until the end of May. The government didn't confirm the breach until June 27, after questions at an unrelated news conference. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'Ontario Health atHome notified our office of a privacy breach on May 30, 2025,' the spokesperson wrote. 'At this stage, we are reviewing the circumstances of the incident and cannot share further details at this time.' Jones said the public agency responsible was investigating. 'Ontario Health is absolutely investigating right now,' she said. 'We have a division that focuses on any potential cyber breach, and as is standing operating (procedure) Ontario Health and Ontario Health atHome will notify if there has been any form of breach to individual patients, but that investigation is going on right now.' With the breach potentially occurring in March and the IPC notified last month, it is unclear why patients potentially involved have not yet been notified. Shamji said they should have been notified long ago. 'I fundamental tenet of a breach of this nature — especially involving so many people — is to immediately notify those individuals,' he said. 'They need to know that their personal information may be compromised and that they need to be monitoring things like credit scores.' Story continues below advertisement Ford appeared to suggest his office had not been informed, despite Ontario Health atHome telling the IPC about the breach a month earlier. 'We'll find out where the gap is and why it wasn't brought to our attention a lot earlier, but we're glad the investigation is happening,' Ford said on Friday. Global News sent questions to Ontario Health but did not receive a response ahead of publication. The potential data breach is the latest issue in a difficult period for Ontario Health atHome, a rebranded and consolidated agency launched by the Ford government. Supply shortages in the fall left more than 350 people receiving home and palliative care across the province without the medication or equipment they needed. Delays in delivering supplies came after the government signed new contracts with private vendors for Ontario Health. As a result of the delays, the province had to refund $219,000 to people forced to buy their own medical supplies. Shamji said the data breach was evidence of an agency which couldn't function properly. 'Ontario Health atHome has been in disarray for months,' he said. 'First with medication shortages and then with supply shortages, then with massive delays in care and now with the protection of personal health information. They've failed on all those things.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store